À Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

James Joyce (1882-1941) was an Irish writer who spent most of his adult life abroad, in Trieste, Zurich and Paris, yet wrote almost exclusively about Dublin. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, published in 1916, was his first novel, and it is a semi-autobiographical account of the formation of a young Irishman who becomes an artist. It was serialised in a London magazine, The Egoist, before appearing in book form.

The book is notable for its form as much as for its story. It begins in the language of a very small child and gradually matures, so that the style itself follows the growth of the hero's mind. There are sermons, conversations, theoretical arguments about art and passages of lyrical intensity. The final chapters, in particular, are among the most celebrated in modern fiction.

Joyce's later work, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, would push experiment much further, but this early novel is already modern in its freedom and its psychological depth. It is also a powerful picture of Irish life at a turning point, and of the forces of religion, family and nationalism that a young person had to confront.

The recording has sixteen sections and runs for about nine hours. It is read by a LibriVox volunteer. For many listeners it is the most accessible way into Joyce, and it rewards repeated hearing. It is demanding in places, but never dull, and the sound of Joyce's prose is a pleasure in itself. A good companion for anyone who has wondered where the modern novel began.